The Gallant Airmen of Brookwood Military Cemetery

By Dean Hollands

With an average age of twenty-six, 'The Gallant Airmen of Brookwood Military Cemetery' honors fifty-two airmen from seven nations who displayed the highest levels of bravery and gallantry while flying. Awarded the Royal Air Force's highest-flying decorations. They now rest in Brookwood Military Cemetery, Surrey, the largest Commonwealth Military

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookTrail Publishing
• Release date: Dec 22, 2023
• ISBN: 9781962256742

Book preview

Copyright © 2023 Dean Hollands

Paperback: 978-1-962256-75-9

eBook: 978-1-962256-74-2

Library of Congress Control Number: 2023922808

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

This is a work of non-fiction.

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Printed in the United States of America

Dedication

This book is dedicated to all those who have lost their lives while serving in the armed forces on active service, and to the many individuals, groups, and organisations who through their activities have and continue to keep the memory of those persons alive.

Also, to my three sons, Scott, Luke, and Jordan, I am proud and love each of you, fine men you have become.

Contents

Introduction

Chapter I Courage Remembered

War Cemetery Eligibility and Criteria for Interment

Heritage Principles for Commonwealth War Grave Cemeteries

Monuments and Memorials

Landscape and Horticulture

Chapter II The Origins of Gallantry Awards

A Standardised System of Reward

Chapter III British Aviation Gallantry Awards

Air Force Honours

The Distinguished Flying Cross

The Distinguished Flying Medal

The Air Force Cross

The Air Force Medal

Chapter IV Defending the Realm

Emergency Powers (Defence) and Military Training Acts

British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP). ‘The Plan’

Aircrew Roles

Aircrew Training

Final Training and Postings

Chapter V A Matter of Life and Death

Bomber Command

The Pathfinder Force

Fighter Command

Coastal Command

Army Cooperation Command

Transport Command

Chapter VI Distinguished Flying Cross Recipients

Chapter VII Distinguished Flying Medal Recipients

Chapter VIII Air Force Cross Recipients

Chapter IX Air Force Medal Recipients

About the Author

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Four years is not a long time, but in the years between 1914 and 1918, a generation of men mostly born during the 1890s were lost to the Great War. A war which many hoped would be the war to end all wars. Yet twenty years later, another generation born during those four short and bloody years was lost to the ravages of a second world war. Many people in both conflicts survived and returned home, although few were unharmed or unaffected physically or mentally by the horrors they endured.

1.7 million men and women of the Commonwealth forces died during World War One and World War Two. Throughout the United Kingdom (UK), from the largest city to the smallest village, from simple plaques and rolls of honour to grander affairs, memorials, and monuments remember them wherever they rest in the world. A Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) headstone marks the graves of most individuals resting in home soil. However, unlike those buried in foreign lands, private headstones and monuments also mark some UK war graves.

Today all Britain’s war dead are remembered publicly through annual acts of commemoration, such as Remembrance Day, also known as Poppy Day. First observed in 1919, it was until 1945, it became Armistice Day. Traditionally, a period of two minutes silence was held nationally as a mark of respect, on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, (the time in Britain when the armistice became effective in 1918). Since 1945, Remembrance Sunday has taken place on the Sunday nearest to 11 November when ceremonies are held at War Memorials all over the UK. Over the years, it has become a day to commemorate not just the sacrifice of servicemen and women but also the suffering of civilians during times of war.

While individuals, public bodies, private organisations, and institutions continue to take part in long held acts of national commemoration, the focus of remembrance has become a more intimate experience. The need to celebrate an individual’s life beyond the fact they died in a particular conflict, has been replaced by a desire to know more about the lives and service of those at rest beyond what their headstone, monument, or memorial might tell us.

Today, visitors to cemeteries and monuments want to remember the dead for their deeds, their life stories, their courage, their devotion to duty and their acts of gallantry, rather than just acknowledging their name on a headstone, memorial or roll of honour.

Through the work of local historians, the CWGC, and other organisations, many wonderful publications, talks, walks, and tours now exist that tell previously unknown or forgotten stories about the 1.7 million British men and women lost during both world wars. It is thanks to them we can now better understand and memorialise their lives and service. Acknowledging that fact, this publication offers an opportunity to place a story and occasionally a face to an often unknown or forgotten name, bringing them and their memories back to life.

Publishing this book and others that I have written, was an inevitability born out of a deep-seated sense of compassion and a thirst for knowledge that would see me enter military service and become a military historian.

When I was a young boy, my father took me to the picturesque Church of Saint Peter, at Boughton Monchelsea, Maidstone. There we sat for hours, overlooking the deer park and panoramic views of the Weald, enjoying the tranquillity the location afforded.

I remember one visit with fondness. Having plucked up the courage, I explored the churchyard on my own, something I had not done before. Although many of the headstones were weathered and unreadable, others revealed names straight from the pages of a Charles Dickens novel with dates that then seemed positively ancient.

It wasn’t long before I soon discovered two headstones that differed from the rest and that grabbed my attention. Short, white, and pristine, with a military badge. Their inscriptions excited and intrigued me in equal measure. My excitement was at learning that these two men had fought and died in the Great War my great grandfather had told me so much about. My intrigue wanted to know more about them, their lives, their families, and their service beyond what was recorded on their headstone, name, rank, service number, age, date they died, and which branch of the military they served in.

Filled with excitement, I continued to walk among the headstones. My next discovery was a simple but elegant grave marker inscribed:

COMMANDER RICHARD FRANK JOLLY, G. C, R.N.

KILLED IN ACTION WHEN COMMANDING

H.M.S MOHAWK

16 OCTOBER 1939 AGED 43

Sitting for a while, I pondered what had happened to Commander Jolly and a hundred questions occupied my thinking. The postscript G.C meant nothing to me then. I did, however, recognise R.N to be Royal Navy. Standing in quiet reflection, I gazed upon the monument in a world of my own. The soft tones of a lady’s voice broke my contemplation. ‘He was a very brave man.’

Startled, I turned to see an old lady holding a large bunch of flowers. Speechless and gawping, I watched as she placed them in front of the headstone.

Eventually, I summoned up the courage to ask her what he had done. Having told me the story of what had happened to Commander Jolly, question after question tripped off my tongue with unfettered ease, as I sought more information, and more answers about what she had told me. The lady had a kind, familiar face, and a warm smile and asked me if I regularly visited the churchyard to which I said, ‘ yes, all the time.’

I thanked her for sharing Commander Jolly’s story and clumsily attempted to excuse myself, knowing that my father would be wondering where I was by now. Still smiling, she said, ‘ Well, as you’re a frequent visitor, let me give you this,’ and promptly handed me an envelope she had taken from her handbag. I’ve never been able to hide my emotions, and she quickly spotted my confusion. ‘I’ve enjoyed our conversation, and I am rather thrilled that you’re interested in the people buried here,’ she said. ‘Keep this safe and when you get the chance, please tell other people Commander Jolly’s story.’

Still smiling, she turned and walked away, disappearing behind the church. I returned to my father, where I explained my encounter with the elderly lady to him. Then I opened the envelope, which contained a transcript of Commander Jolly’s citation for his posthumous award of the Empire Gallantry Medal on 23 December 1939.

It read:

Commander Jolly’s gallantry consisted of the bringing of his ship into harbour when he himself was mortally wounded. H.M.S. Mohawk had been attacked by enemy aircraft and had suffered many casualties.

Despite his own severe wounds Commander Jolly refused to leave the bridge and continued to direct Mohawk for a thirty-five-mile passage home which lasted for an hour and twenty minutes. He repeatedly refused medical attention, saying, ‘Leave me, go, and look after the others.’ Having brought his ship into port, he collapsed, and some five hours after being landed he died of his wounds.

The captain of his flotilla reported, ‘Commander Jolly was an imperturbable commander of careful judgment who devoted his energies to perfecting his ship and ship’s company for battle. His fearlessness and honesty in counsel were remarkable, and he proved his bravery and devotion to his wounded men when for a long period he manoeuvred his ship despite a mortal wound.

On 24 September 1940, the relatives of Commander Jolly exchanged his Empire Gallantry Medal for the new George Cross medal. Had it not been for that unexpected encounter, I may never have learned the story of his gallantry or the many exciting things he did in his naval career. Neither would I have been alerted to the fact that behind every name on a headstone is a story unknown to most who pass by.

Commander Jolly’s story motivated me to discover the stories behind the military headstones in other local cemeteries. Growing up, my interest in military history and heritage continued, bringing me into contact with many first and second world war cemeteries across Europe, first as a soldier, then as a historian and a battlefield guide. I have spent many hours at these iconic locations paying homage to and telling the stories of the people buried there. Often located close to battlefields or upon sites where casualty-clearing stations, advanced dressing stations and field hospitals once stood, these locations and the vast scale of some CWGC’s cemeteries provided a powerful and evocative backdrop to tell their stories.

In the UK there are few locations that compare in scale or hold the same evocative meaning as the CWGC sites in Europe. Of the 160,000 CWGC graves in the UK, most are disparately sited. Far from the battlefields and cemeteries of foreign countries, they lie, with few exceptions, in military and civilian cemeteries.

Conducting tours in these locations, visitors often conclude that those buried died from some illness, injury or accident that befell them while serving in the UK and that their role in the war was minimal. Occasionally, those assumptions are correct. More often, they are incorrect, with many individuals having also served and seen action in foreign countries, some with significant distinction and valour.

The CWGC has a policy that the military personnel who died in both world wars will be treated with equality in death, irrespective of rank, service, or achievements. That equality is clear in the design of their cemeteries, grave markers, monuments, and memorials, which ensure privates and generals rest side-by-side, adhering to the principles of equality, uniformity, and commemoration in perpetuity.

The CWGC makes few exceptions to this principle. The adding of a post nominal for a gallantry award, such as DSO for the award of the Distinguished Service Order or MC for Military Cross or adding the image of the Victoria Cross to a headstone are such exceptions. For most visitors, understanding the context in which someone died, or the circumstances in which they were awarded a military decoration from the information available on the headstone alone is an impossibility.

In such circumstances, a ‘Friends of’ group, local history society or knowledgeable guide might provide some background information. Access to the internet may provide some information, although this is often limited and uncorroborated.

To research every person buried at Brookwood Military Cemetery would be an incredible tribute to their memory, and a feat beyond one person. But it is the ambition of the CWGC, its staff and volunteers, along with other interested parties, to make that desire a reality. However, despite their best efforts, for many reasons, little or no documentary evidence remains about some of the personnel buried within the cemetery, beyond that which the CWGC and a few other genealogical and military archives hold. Even then, on occasion, this information is limited or non-existent.

To assist that ambition, this book assembles a unique collection of untold, forgotten, and lesser-known stories of fifty-two airmen from seven nations buried in Brookwood Military Cemetery who were awarded military flying decorations for acts of gallantry in the air.

These accounts reveal the circumstances by which they became airmen, the squadrons they served with, the operations they flew, and the battles they fought. Within its pages are the tragic, heart-breaking, and often implausible stories and circumstances of how they came to be buried at Brookwood Military Cemetery. It reveals stories of ordinary men, from all walks of life, who, because of their training, instinct, and intuition, became heroes of the air. Men who performed incredible acts of gallantry, audacious acts of courage and deeds of daring do. Men who rode their luck, courted danger, and succumbed to misfortune.

While ever effort has been made to obtain all that is knowable about these men and their stories, a few accounts lack some details. Rather than delay the publication of this book indefinitely searching for what may never be found, these accounts have been included with what is known. If additional information is forth coming this will be included in subsequent revisions of this book.

By presenting these stories in one collection, the reader has a unique opportunity when visiting the cemetery to understand in greater detail the context in which these men served, the achievements they attained and the sacrifices they made.

In so doing, personally honouring, and respecting their service and memory.

Dean Hollands, MPhil, MSc, BSc (Hons), PGCE.

Chapter I

Courage Remembered

A brief history of the construction and maintenance of the Commonwealth’s Military Cemeteries and Memorials of the wars of 1914 – 1918 & 1939 – 1945.

When Britain declared war on Germany in August 1914, Fabian Ware was a British educator, and journalist who like many was keen to do his patriotic duty. Aged Forty-Five, he was considered too old for active service, yet unperturbed, he volunteered to command a mobile unit of the British Red Cross. Joining the Ambulance Corps on the Western Front, Fabian ferried wounded men back from the frontline to dressing stations and field hospitals. In March 1915, to avoid the unsanitary transportation of war casualties, the British Government, with no plan on how to deal with the war dead, issued a ban on the exhumation and repatriation of Imperial soldiers, which was to be observed until the end of hostilities.

The public did not receive this policy well and several wealthier members of society paid privately for their loved ones to be returned home. Such actions caused animosity and ill feeling among the working and middle classes, who, having shared in the sacrifice, felt that their loved ones were being treated unfairly because of their social standing. In response, the ban on repatriation remained and exhumations became illegal.

Fabien Ware was shocked and saddened by the routine sight of so many corpses and body parts being buried randomly with no organisation. This lack of coordination seemed not only disrespectful to the dead who had given their lives in the service of their country, but to their family members back home. In addressing the situation, he set about ensuring the final resting places of the dead would not be lost forever.

Fabien made several suggestions to the War Office about how they might achieve this and began documenting as many burials as he could. Later that year, the War Office reorganised his mobile unit, incorporating them into the Army as the Graves Registration Commission. Following several more changes, it became the Imperial War Graves Commission (IWGC) with the responsibility for burying and commemorating the dead and missing soldiers, sailors, and airmen of World War One. It received a Royal Charter on 21 May 1917 and in 1960 was renamed the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

The IWGC began ensuring equality in death and commemorations for every man and woman, rich or poor, general, or private, by contacting the Director of the British Museum, Sir Frederic Kenyon, who provided advice and suggestions regarding the shape, appearance, and design for